Message Rearrangement for Improved Wireless Code Performance

ABSTRACT

A system and method for permuting known and unknown message bits before encoding to provide a beneficial rearrangement of bits. Such a method can improve distance properties in the resulting subcode. In various embodiments, the structure of a beneficial rearrangement is dependent on the parameters of how known and unknown bits are grouped and on the specific type of code being used. Given these two parameters, the message bits can be rearranged to more efficiently leverage any apriori knowledge.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/374,399 filed on Apr. 3, 2019, which is a reissue of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/266,344 filed on Apr. 30, 2014, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,972,814 issued on Mar. 3, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/268,255 filed on Oct. 7, 2011, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,769,365 issued on Jul. 1, 2014, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/US2010/052075 filed on Oct. 8, 2010,the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein as ifreproduced in their entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to data transmission in mobilecommunications systems and more particularly to message rearrangementfor improved code performance.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNOLOGY

In known wireless telecommunications systems, transmission equipment ina base station or access device transmits signals throughout ageographical region known as a cell. As technology has evolved, moreadvanced equipment has been introduced that can provide services thatwere not possible previously. This advanced equipment might include, forexample, an E-UTRAN (evolved universal terrestrial radio access network)node B (eNB), a base station or other systems and devices. The term“E-UTRAN node B” can also be interchangeably referred to as “evolvednode B” or “enhanced node B” in the context of this document. Suchadvanced or next generation equipment is often referred to as long-termevolution (LTE) equipment, and a packet-based network that uses suchequipment is often referred to as an evolved packet system (EPS). Anaccess device is any component, such as a traditional base station or anLTE eNB (Evolved Node B or Enhanced Node B), that can provide a useragent (UA) (alternatively referred to as user equipment (UE)) withaccess to other components in a telecommunications system.

In mobile communication systems such as an E-UTRAN, the access deviceprovides radio accesses to one or more UAs. The access device comprisesa packet scheduler for allocating uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) datatransmission resources among all the UAs communicating to the accessdevice. The functions of the scheduler include, among others, dividingthe available air interface capacity between the UAs, deciding theresources (e.g. sub-carrier frequencies and timing) to be used for eachUA's packet data transmission, and monitoring packet allocation andsystem load. The scheduler allocates physical layer resources forphysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH) data transmissions, and sends scheduling information tothe UAs through a control channel. The UAs refer to the schedulinginformation for the timing, frequency, data block size, modulation andcoding of uplink and downlink transmissions.

In many wireless communications systems, both the transmitter andreceiver assume no apriori (i.e., presupposed by experience) knowledgeon the message bits. However, in certain cases apriori knowledge ofmessage bits does exist and can be taken advantage of by the decoder.Examples of such cases include an acknowledgement/negativeacknowledgement (ACK/NACK) transmission and channel quality information(CQI) transmission in Carrier Aggregation (CA) in the Long TermEvolution-Advanced (LTE-A) system.

In the LTE-A system, communication is temporally divided into subframesof 1 ms duration in which bidirectional communication between the UE andeNB may occur on one or more component carriers (CCs). Additionally, theratio of downlink to uplink subframes may vary up to a ratio of 4:1according to traffic needs in the case of Time Division Duplex (TDD).

Prior to a data transmission on the Physical Downlink Shared CHannel(PDSCH) in a subframe, the eNB encodes control information on thePhysical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and transmits in a controlregion (which may have a length of up to four orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the beginning of the subframe).A UE attempts PDCCH decoding at the beginning of each subframe. Once aUE detects a PDCCH scheduled to itself, the UE performs PDSCH decodingof the same subframe according to the scheduling information included ina detected PDCCH. If a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) check of the PDSCHdata is successful, the UE transmits ACK on the Physical Uplink ControlChannel (PUCCH) four subframes after PDSCH reception. If the CRC checkof PDSCH data is not successful, the UE transmits NACK on PUCCH torequest a retransmission. Typically if no PDCCH is detected for 3GPPRelease-8 (i.e. a single downlink carrier) then no acknowledgement(either positive or negative) is indicated in the uplink PUCCH; this isreferred to as discontinuous transmission (DTX).

In carrier aggregation, a UE may receive on a multiple of up to fivedownlink component carriers (DL CCs) depending on the UE's capabilitiesand deployment scenario. Multiple PDSCHs can be scheduled to one UE inthe same subframe and multiple PDSCHs may be decoded in parallel.However, to save the UE battery power, it has been agreed that the UEmay transmit multiple ACK/NACKs for multiple PDSCHs on one PUCCH in theUL PCC (Primary Component Carrier). When multiple hybrid automaticrepeat request acknowledgements (HARQ-ACKs) are transmitted on onePUCCH, one of the issues relating to the transmission is to define theinformation bit size (or number of information bits) in the PUCCHformat. One method of defining the bit size is that the number ofACK/NACK bits is determined based on the number of PDCCHs that the UEdetects. However, this method can cause a mismatch problem when the UEmisses one of the PDCCHs and the eNB is not aware of that situation. Ifthe number of ACK/NACK bits assumed in the eNB and the UE is different,the eNB will fail to correctly receive all of the ACK/NACK bits. Anothermethod of defining the bit size is that the number of ACK/NACK bits isdetermined in a semi-static manner based on the number of configured CCsand the number of configured transport blocks (TBs) per configured CC.Since the number of configured CCs is signaled by RRC signaling andhence remains constant in a semi-static sense (i.e. does not changedynamically), the mismatch problem can be avoided or minimized.Alternatively, the number of CCs may be sufficient if a maximum numberof TBs is used for all CCs. If less than this maximum number is neededin a CC for ACK/NACK signaling, then the remaining bits can be set to afixed value. In a TDD system, ACK/NACK bits can be determined by thenumber of configured CCs, the number of configured TBs per configured CCand the number of downlink subframes to support the case when theACK/NACKs of multiple DL subframes are multiplexed and transmitted inone UL subframe.

When the number of ACK/NACK bits is determined based on the number ofconfigured CCs and number of configured transport blocks (TBs) perconfigured CC, if a PDCCH is received on at least one of the configuredCCs, then NACKs are sent for all CCs for which no PDCCH has beendetected. If a PDCCH is detected then the UE makes an attempt to receivethe corresponding PDSCH data. If PDSCH decoding is successful, the UEsends an acknowledgement (ACK) message to the eNB; otherwise a negativeacknowledgement (NACK) is indicated. In the case a CC is configured fordual-transport block multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmission,two ACK/NACK bits per subframe are needed for that CC, whereas for acarrier configured for a single transport block only one ACK/NACK bitper subframe may be necessary.

Since the eNB knows in which CCs and subframes PDCCH and PDSCHtransmissions did not occur, it has apriori knowledge that NACKs will beindicated for those resources provided at least one PDCCH and thereforeone PDSCH was scheduled on at least one of the configured CCs. That is,the UE will signal NACKs for both a non-detection of a PDCCH and anunsuccessful PDSCH decoding when a PDCCH was detected. However, the eNBknows which CCs on which a PDCCH was transmitted and therefore knowsthat any ACK/NACK bits corresponding to CCs and subframes where a PDCCHwas not transmitted must have a value of NACK.

An example is shown in FIG. 1, labeled Prior Art, for message size of 5bits. It is assumed that the ratio of uplink to downlink subframes is1:1 but that PDCCH/PDSCH transmissions can be scheduled on subframes ofup to 5 CCs and that each CC is configured for one TB. In the examplePDCCH/PDSCH transmissions are scheduled on CC2, CC3 and CC4 only.Therefore, during the decoding of this ACK/NACK message, the eNB cantreat the ACK/NACK value on these component carriers as unknown while itcan assume the values of CC1 and CC5 are known (i.e. the ACK/NACKfeedback bits for CC1 and CC5 must necessarily have a value of NACK inthis example).

A further example of transmissions containing apriori knowledge may bein the case of CQI multiplexing for carrier aggregation (CA) which mayoccur both in TDD and Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD). CQI isreported periodically for each CC however, these periodic reports mayoverlap. One option under discussion in LTE-A for CA is to concatenateinto one report several CQI reports from different CCs in the case ofoverlap. To have the same understanding of the CQI payload between theeNB and UE when the number of activated CCs is changed, it also has beenproposed that all overlapping CQI reports be included in the messagepayload regardless of whether the CC corresponding to a CQI report isbeing activated or deactivated.

In the case where a CQI report from a deactivated CC is included in theoverall CQI payload, the UE need not calculate the channel quality ofthe deactivated CCs because the CQI information of the deactivate CC isnot required in the eNB. In this case the UE may transmit a knownsequence in place of the deactivated CQI report. As shown in FIG. 2,labeled Prior Art, some of the CC CQI reports may be disabled and aknown sequence can be included. One purpose of this known reservedsequence is to indicate that the CC of the corresponding CQI report hasbeen deactivated in UE side. As soon as the eNB recognizes the knownsequence, the eNB will understand any future CQI reports on thecorresponding CC from the mobile during the reconfiguration period willalso contain the known sequence and thus the eNB may treat the knownsequence as apriori knowledge.

In evolved universal terrestrial radio access (EUTRA), when more thaneleven payload bits exist for control information feedback (e.g.ACK/NACK bits or CQI feedback), either a tail-biting convolutional codeor dual Reed-Muller code will be used rather than the single Reed-Mullerblock code used for payload sizes of less than or equal to eleven bits.With carrier aggregation for FDD, the maximum number of ACK/NACK bitsthat might need to be reported in 3GPP Release-10 is ten (five carriers,each carrier with two transport blocks) per downlink subframe. However,in a TDD system, the ACK/NACK information from multiple downlinksubframes may need to be reported together within one uplink subframe(assuming a DL:UL subframe ratio up to 4:1), and hence it is quitepossible that up to 40 ACK/NACK bits (5CC×2 TB×4 UL/DL ratio=40) mayneed to be reported in one uplink transmission (convolutional coding ordual Reed-Muller coding would be used in this instance). Future EUTRAreleases may support more than five aggregated downlink carriers, whichwould similarly increase the total number of ACK/NACK bits beingreported at one time even in FDD.

In addition, CQI information generally consists of several bits percarrier, and it is therefore likely that if CQI information frommultiple downlink carriers is aggregated together that the total controlinformation payload size will be greater than eleven bits, and henceconvolutional coding or dual Reed-Muller coding could be used here aswell, although convolutional coding is more likely in this case for easeof implementation.

Known coding techniques can be improved when apriori information isavailable. Such techniques include convolutional code and dual componentcodes such as dual Reed Muller codes. Known message bits can aid indecoding, but their positioning in message vector is closely tied totheir utility. For an edge case, consider the situation in which onlytwo bits in a message vector are not known apriori. The subcode formedby the codewords associated with the four possible messages may havebetter distance properties than the ambient code. Such an increase wouldprovide greater error correction capabilities.

Consider the example shown in FIG. 3. Assume all of the zeros in themessage are known to be zero at the receiver while the 1s are unknownACK/NACK bits. Since the unknown bits are adjacent, these bits lead to atotal convolutional codeword weight of 6, or 6 non-zero elements intotal in the two convolutional code parity streams.

For a tail-biting convolutional code, such as the one used withinE-UTRA, an important separation consideration is cyclical separationrather than strict linear separation. For example, an eight-bit binarysequence 10000001 has the two 1s separated by seven bit positions in alinear sense. However, in a cyclical sense (i.e. if this bit sequence isassumed to occur in a cyclic or circular form), then the first and lastbits (which are both 1s) are actually considered to be adjacent.Consequently, the maximum cyclical bit separation that can be achievedfor this example bit sequence is 10001000, where each of the 1s is fourbit positions away from the other 1 in either direction.

The example shown in FIG. 3 raises a more general issue. Given apartition of a message into known and unknown bits, what class ofpermutations of the message bits induces a subcode with optimal distanceproperties? Furthermore, in the case message bits are structured ingroups of blocks where each block of bits are either known or allunknown, is there a class of permutation that performs well regardlessof which blocks are known or unknown?

Although the above analysis is for the case of ACK/NACK bits, similararguments can also be used for the improved codeword performance in thecase the transmitted message contains CQI information where at least oneCQI report is disabled and consists of a known sequence (see FIG. 2).Here the known sequence should be used in some beneficial manner by theeNB.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention, a method for permuting knownand unknown message bits before encoding to provide a beneficialrearrangement of bits is set forth. Alternatively a method for readingmessage bits out of sequence to an encoder to provide a beneficial orderof encoding bits is set forth. Such methods can improve distanceproperties in the resulting subcode. In various embodiments, thestructure of a beneficial rearrangement is dependent on the parametersof how known and unknown bits are grouped and on the specific type ofcode being used. Given these two parameters, the message bits can berearranged to more efficiently leverage any apriori knowledge.

In certain embodiments, two applications in which reordering bits arebeneficial are set forth. More specifically, in a first application,reordering bits for ACK/NACK signaling is set forth and in a secondapplication reordering bits for CQI signaling is set forth. Theapplications lend themselves to rearranging message bits containingapriori knowledge. Furthermore, in certain embodiments, the ACK/NACKapplication and CQI application use either a convolutional code or dualcomponent encoding.

Also, although certain examples have been set forth with respect tomessage payloads comprising ACK/NACK information and CQI information, itwill be appreciated that similar arguments can be used for improvedcodeword performance for message payloads in general containing aprioriinformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention may be better understood, and its numerousobjects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in theart by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the samereference number throughout the several figures designates a like orsimilar element.

FIG. 1, labeled Prior Art, shows an example of apriori knowledge in anACK/NACK application.

FIG. 2, labeled Prior Art, shows an example of apriori knowledge in aCQI application.

FIG. 3, labeled Prior Art, shows a parity stream example.

FIG. 4, shows another parity stream example with separated unknown bitlocations according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5, shows a table of pairwise distances between codewords accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a convolutional encoded reorderedmessage block according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a dual component code encoded reorderedmessage block according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a two-dimensional interleaver accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows an example of permutations according to one embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a dual component code with message bitsbeing read out of sequence to encoders according to one embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows an example of apriori knowledge in an ACK/NACK applicationaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 12, shows an example reordering of message bits before encodingwith a dual component encoder according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows a diagram of a wireless communications system including aUE operable for some of the various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of a UE operable for some of the variousembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 15 shows a diagram of a software environment that may beimplemented on a UE operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 16 shows a block diagram of an illustrative general purposecomputer system suitable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention generally relates to a system and method forpermuting or reading out of sequence known and unknown message bitsbefore encoding to provide a beneficial rearrangement of bits. Thesystem and method can improve distance properties in the resultingsubcode. More specifically, the structure of the beneficialrearrangement is dependent on the parameters of how known and unknownbits are grouped and on the specific type of code being used. Giventhese two parameters, the message bits can be rearranged to moreefficiently leverage any apriori knowledge.

Although the rearrangement of the message bits is performed at thetransmitter before encoding the receiver is also aware of therearrangement used both to determine the position of the known bits touse as apriori knowledge during decoding and to correctly reconstructthe message after decoding.

In certain embodiments, the system and method are applied to twoapplications in which reordering bits are beneficial. More specifically,in a first application, reordering bits for ACK/NACK signaling is setforth and in a second application reordering bits for CQI signaling isset forth. The applications lend themselves to rearranging message bitscontaining apriori knowledge. Furthermore, in certain embodiments, theACK/NACK application and CQI application use either a convolutional codeor dual component encoding.

FIG. 4 shows how by separating the unknown bit locations, theconvolutional codeword weight may be increased to 10 compared to aconvolutional codeword weight of 6 in FIG. 3.

More specifically the pairwise hamming distance between each of the fourpossible convolutional codewords for each of the two ACK/NACK bitcombinations is shown in the table of FIG. 5. These distances increaseafter reordering resulting in a more robust encoding structure.

FIG. 6 shows how in a convolutional code approach, the reordered messagebits 610 can be provided directly to the convolutional encoder 620.

FIG. 7 shows how in the case where a dual component code is used, thefirst m reordered message bits (r0, . . . , rm−1) 710, may be encoded bya first component encoder 720 (or equivalently read sequentially to thefirst component encoder 720) while the remaining n-m reordered messagebits (rm, . . . , rn−1) 730 may be encoded by a second component encoder740 (or equivalently read sequentially to the second component encoder740). In other words, when a dual component code is used, the reorderedmessage bits can be separated into two portions. A first portion of thereordered message bits can be provided to a first encoder, and a secondportion of the reordered message bits can be provided to a secondencoder. An example component encoder may be the Reed Muller encoder.

More specifically, when applying the method to ACK/NACK signalingapplication, ACK/NACK message payload may be formed with either a singlebit, which is associated with a CC, or with two bits, which areassociated with a CC. These single or multiple bit formations correspondto where a CC is configured for single or dual transport blocktransmissions, respectively. All bits pertaining to a particular CC aregenerally either simultaneously known or unknown by the eNB. (That is,if no PDCCH is transmitted for a particular carrier, then either thesingle (single transport block carrier) or both (dual transport blockcarrier) ACK/NACK bits are known at the eNB to be equal to NACK).Ensuring the two ACK/NACK bits from a dual transport block carrier areseparated after reordering aids in code performance when some of thetotal payload bits are known (or, in the more general case, separatingthe N ACK/NACK feedback bits from a carrier configured for N transportblocks). This separation (or equivalently reordering) can beaccomplished in a variety of different ways.

When applying the method to the CQI application, the transmitted messagecontains CQI information and when at least one CQI report is deactivatedand therefore contains at least one known reserved sequence, the knownreserved sequence is used as an indicator of the UE's knowledge of CCreconfiguration to the eNB. This is the first step in being able to usethe known reserved sequence as apriori knowledge.

After first detecting the known reserved sequence, the eNB may treateach subsequent transmission (until the CC is reactivated) of the knownsequence (from each deactivated CQI report) as apriori knowledge duringdecoding. The method reorders the complete CQI message payload toimprove code performance when at least one of the CQI reports in themessage is known. If the CC is later reactivated by the eNB, then theeNB will no longer expect the known sequence to be used for the CQIreport for the CC and will therefore not have any apriori knowledge forthat CC during decoding.

It is desirable to increase the pairwise distance between bits from thesame CQI report of a CC to maximize coding performance. This can beaccomplished via a striping procedure.

There are a plurality of embodiments relating to the ACK/NACKapplication. In each of the ACK/NACK embodiments, ACK/NACK feedback foran arbitrary number of single transport block CCs (i.e. one ACK/NACKbit) and an arbitrary number of dual transport block CCs (i.e. twoACK/NACK bits) is considered. This ACK/NACK feedback may extend overmultiple downlink subframes (e.g. in a TDD system with a DL:UL subframeratio greater than 1:1), and hence multiple ACK/NACK feedback bits mayexist for a particular carrier over multiple subframes. However, thesecan be considered as distinct ACK/NACK messages because scheduling ofeach subframe is performed independently. That is, each ACK/NACK messagebeing considered includes between 1 and N bits, where N is the maximumnumber of transport blocks that may be transmitted on one downlinkcarrier in one subframe (N=2 for LTE-A).

More specifically, in certain embodiments relating to the ACK/NACKapplication, an even-odd striping operation is performed. With theeven-odd striping operation, the operation lets be the vector of lengthn formed by concatenating any arrangement of single- and dual-per CCACK/NACK messages. The operation further defines a permutation asfollows: list all even-indexed bits followed by all odd-indexed bits.For instance, the vector, x, (012345678) maps to (024681357). Thispermutation necessarily (cyclically) separates all adjacent bits by atleast

$\frac{n}{N}$

bits. Since all paired dual transport block ACK/NACK bits arenecessarily adjacent, this separation is (cyclically) optimal.Furthermore, the permutation's effectiveness does not depend on thelength of x. In a more general case of N transport blocks per CC, thissolution may be extended to Mod-N striping. The operation furtherdefines a permutation as follows: list all index bits that satisfy i modN=0 first, and then list all index bits that satisfy i mod N=1 secondand so on up to i mod (N)=N−1.

In other embodiments relating to the ACK/NACK application, atwo-dimensional interleaver operation is performed. With thetwo-dimensional interleaver operation, the operation considers thetwo-dimensional interleaver shown in FIG. 8. The operation further letsthe message bits be a vector of size n. Message bits enter column-wise.After the message has been entirely entered, the interleaved version isread off row-wise. Since all paired dual transport block ACK/NACK bitsare necessarily adjacent, this separation is (cyclically) optimal. Thisoperation is similar to the even-odd operation but may require the useof dummy variables during the interleaving operation if the messagelength is odd.

In the case of two transport blocks per CC, the first row corresponds toeven bits in the original message and the second row corresponds to oddbits in the original message. In a more general case of N transportblocks per CC, this operation can be extended to an interleaver of Nrows and

$c = \left\lceil \frac{N_{total}}{bmin} \right\rceil$

columns.

While references may be made herein to an interleaving operation or toan interleaver, it should be understood that similar concepts couldapply to a deinterleaving operation or to a deinterleaver.

In other embodiments relating to ACK/NACK application, a binaryrepresentation reversal operation is performed. With the binaryrepresentation reversal operation, the operation lets be the vector x oflength 2^([log) ² ^(n]) formed by concatenating a total number n of anynumbers of single- and dual-transport block ACK/NACK message bits and oflength 2^([log) ² ^(n])−n dummy bits (if n is not an exact integralpower of 2). Let x_(i) be the i^(th) bit of x, i∈{0,1,2, . . . ,2^([log) ² ^(n])−1} and let (b₁, b₂, . . . , b_(k)), k=[log₂ n] be thebinary representation of the index i where each b_(j) value represents asingle bit position in the binary representation of i. The operationdefines a permutation in the following way:

πx(b ₁ ,b ₂ . . . , b _(k))→x(b _(k) ,b _(k−1) , . . . , b ₁).

For instance, with n=16, a permutation is π(x₅)==ϕ(x₍₀₁₀₁₎)=x₍₁₀₁₀₎=x₁₀.A benefit of this approach is that it is easily implementable inhardware. A disadvantage of this approach is it may require theinclusion of dummy bits during the binary representation reversaloperation if n does not happen to be an exact integral power of two.

In other embodiments relating the ACK/NACK application, a turbo encoderinterleaving operation is performed. With the turbo encoder interleavingoperation, a turbo code interleaver (such as that defined in Section5.1.3.2.3 of 3GPP TS 36.212 V9.0.0) is defined as: π(i)=(f₁i+f₂i²)modulo K, where f₁ and f₂ are parameters chosen based on the block sizeK. However, in the turbo code interleaver defined by Section 5.1.3.2.3of 3GPP TS 36.212 V9.0.0, f₁ and f₂ are only specified for values ofgreater than or equal to 40. Thus new values for 10<K<40 are defined bythe present turbo encoder interleaving operation.

Novelty of this solution includes its application to reordering messagebits before encoding. Furthermore, the reordering may result in a randomlike reordering rather than a structured reordering. A random reorderingof bits with apriori knowledge may not maximize code performance;however, it would at least result in improved code performance ascompared to no reordering.

In other embodiments relating to the ACK/NACK application, a separatesecond bit operation is performed. With the separate second bitoperation, the operation lets x be the vector of length n formed byconcatenating any numbers of single- and dual-transport block ACK/NACKmessages. The operation further permutes x using the following iterativeconstruction: reading left to right along x, remove the second bit fromeach dual-transport block ACK/NACK, shift the remaining bits to theleft, and sequentially replace the removed bit(s) to the right-mostpositions of x. This operation effectively separates dual-transportblock ACK/NACKs in most cases, and is equivalent to even-odd stripingoperation in the case where all bits correspond to dual-transport blockACK/NACKs.

In other embodiments relating to the ACK/NACK application, a separatefirst-TB, single-TB and second-TB bit operation is performed. Theseparate first-TB, single-TB and second-TB bit operation is a variationof the separate second bit operation. With the separate first-TB,single-TB and second-TB bit operation, the operation lets x be thevector of length n formed by concatenating any numbers of single- anddual-transport block ACK/NACK messages. The operation further permutes xusing a rearrangement of ACK/NACK bits with an order of the firstACK/NACK bits of all dual-transport block carriers, ACK/NACK bits of allsingle-transport block carriers, and, second ACK/NACK bits of alldual-transport block carriers.

Within each group of single or dual transport block carriers, thecarriers are arranged into a predetermined order which is known at boththe UE and eNB (e.g. ascending frequency, ascending Carrier IndicatorField (CIF) (if CIF values are unique per carrier), also ordered bysubframe). This operation achieves maximum non-cyclical separation ofthe ACK/NACK bits for dual transport block carriers.

To achieve maximum cyclical separation of the ACK/NACK bits for dualtransport block carriers, a rearrangement of ACK/NACK bits may be used,where there are N1 TB single transport block carriers (note that N1 TBmay equal zero if all carriers are configured as dual transport blockcarriers). More specifically the rearrangement has an order of firstACK/NACK bits of all dual-transport block carriers, ACK/NACK bits of thefirst ┌N_(1TB)/2┐ single-transport block carriers, second ACK/NACK bitsof all dual-transport block carriers, and ACK/NACK bits of the last└N_(1TB)/2┘ single-transport block carriers.

In other embodiments relating to the ACK/NACK application, pairs ofACK/NACK bits are transmitted per component carrier. If a scheduledcomponent carrier supports two transport blocks then both ACK/NACK bitsare used. Otherwise if a scheduled carrier supports the transmission ofonly a single transport block then only the first bit carries theACK/NACK information while the second bit is fixed as a NACK. As before,if a component carrier is not scheduled then NACKs are transmitted forthat component carrier. Examples of these three cases are shown in FIG.11 for CC1, CC2, CC3 and CC4. Shifted pairs of elements can beconstructed from this message as shown in FIG. 12. In the case theencoder is a dual component encoder such as a dual Reed Muller encoder,the even pairs could be read directly to the first encoder and the oddpairs read directly to the second also shown in FIG. 12. This could beimplemented by non-sequential reading of message bits to each encoder asshown in FIG. 10.

While the disclosed operations have concentrated on the case where x iscomposed of blocks of size 1 or 2, there exist direct analogues of manyof these schemes for other non-homogeneous collections of blocks.

There are a plurality of embodiments relating to the CQI application.More specifically, when the transmitted message contains CQI informationand at least one CQI report is deactivated and includes a known reservedsequence, the known reserved sequence can be used as an indicator of theUE's knowledge of CC reconfiguration to the eNB. This operation is thefirst step in being able to use the known reserved sequence as aprioriknowledge.

On recognizing the transmission of each indicator, the eNB maythereafter treat each known sequence (from each deactivated CQI report)as apriori knowledge during decoding. The resulting code performance canbe further enhanced through reordering of the message bits prior toencoding.

More specifically, in certain embodiments relating to the CQIapplication, a striped reordering operation is performed. With thestriped reordering operation, the operation lets b the channel CQI blocksize and c be the total number CQI reports. If x is the vector formed byconcatenating the CQI reports and x_(k) is the k^(th) component (bit) ofx where 0≤k<b*c, the operation defines π: x_(ib+j)→x_(jc+i).

The original ordering of x, i=0,1, . . . , c−1 is the channel number andj=O, . . . , b−1 is the component number within a given CQI report. Then7 stripes x, (i.e., in π(x) the zeroth components of every CQI reportappear sequentially, followed by the first components of every CQIreport, and so on). Adjacent bits from any CQI report are separated byexactly b bits. This pairwise separation is maximal.

This operation provides a good chance for increased minimum distance inthe induced subcode. Also, this operation can be generalized to the casewhere a message consists of the concatenation of c blocks all of thebits in a block either being known or unknown.

In this operation, all CQI reports are of equal size whereas in thefollowing operation the individual CQI reports may be of unequal size(indeed, in the ACK/NACK solutions in the previous section the per CCACK/NACK were also of unequal size, that is 1 bit per CC and/or 2 bitsper CC).

In other embodiments relating to CQI application, a block interleavingoperation is performed. With the block interleaving operation, theoperation lets bi be the channel CQI block size for the ith CQI reportand be the total number of CQI reports. CQI message bits are readcolumn-wise into a two-dimensional interleaver of depth c rows and widthc columns.

If the CQI block size is different for each CC, b_(min) can be the sizeof the smallest CQI payload and c can be

$\left\lfloor \frac{n - 1}{2} \right\rfloor$

or c=ceil(N_(total)/b_(min)) where ceil is the ceiling or round upfunction), where N_(total) is the total number of CQI bits. In this casedummy bits can be used to fill the interleaver before reading out theinterleaved version row-wise. Alternatively, bmin can be defined withthe size of CQI of a certain CC, be define with the size of biggest CQIpayload, predetermined with a fixed value or configured by higherlayers.

The operation further lets the message bits be a vector x of size n.After the message has been entirely entered, the interleaved version isread off row-wise and any dummy bits are removed. FIG. 9 shows anexample of the permutation of r in this operation.

FIG. 13 illustrates a wireless communications system including anembodiment of user agent (UA) 1301. UA 1301 is operable for implementingaspects of the disclosure, but the disclosure should not be limited tothese implementations. Though illustrated as a mobile phone, the UA 1301may take various forms including a wireless handset, a pager, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a tablet computer, alaptop computer. Many suitable devices combine some or all of thesefunctions. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the UA 1301 is not ageneral purpose computing device like a portable, laptop or tabletcomputer, but rather is a special-purpose communications device such asa mobile phone, a wireless handset, a pager, a PDA, or atelecommunications device installed in a vehicle. The UA 1301 may alsobe a device, include a device, or be included in a device that hassimilar capabilities but that is not transportable, such as a desktopcomputer, a set-top box, or a network node. The UA 1301 may supportspecialized activities such as gaming, inventory control, job control,and/or task management functions, and so on.

The UA 1301 includes a display 1302. The UA 1301 also includes atouch-sensitive surface, a keyboard or other input keys generallyreferred as 1304 for input by a user. The keyboard may be a full orreduced alphanumeric keyboard such as QWERTY, Dvorak, AZERTY, andsequential types, or a traditional numeric keypad with alphabet lettersassociated with a telephone keypad. The input keys may include atrackwheel, an exit or escape key, a trackball, and other navigationalor functional keys, which may be inwardly depressed to provide furtherinput function. The UA 1301 may present options for the user to select,controls for the user to actuate, and/or cursors or other indicators forthe user to direct.

The UA 1301 may further accept data entry from the user, includingnumbers to dial or various parameter values for configuring theoperation of the UA 1301. The UA 1301 may further execute one or moresoftware or firmware applications in response to user commands. Theseapplications may configure the UA 1301 to perform various customizedfunctions in response to user interaction. Additionally, the UA 1301 maybe programmed and/or configured over-the-air, for example from awireless base station, a wireless access point, or a peer UA 1301.

Among the various applications executable by the UA 1301 are a webbrowser, which enables the display 1302 to show a web page. The web pagemay be obtained via wireless communications with a wireless networkaccess node, a cell tower, a peer UA 1301, or any other wirelesscommunication network or system 1300. The network 1300, which includes abase station 1320 (which may be a Node B or eNB type base station), iscoupled to a wired network 1308, such as the Internet. Via the wirelesslink and the wired network, the UA 1301 has access to information onvarious servers, such as a server 1310. The server 1310 may providecontent that may be shown on the display 1302. Alternately, the UA 1301may access the network 1300 through a peer UA 1301 acting as anintermediary, in a relay type or hop type of connection.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of the UA 1301. While a variety of knowncomponents of UAs 1301 are depicted, in an embodiment a subset of thelisted components and/or additional components not listed may beincluded in the UA 1301. The UA 1301 includes a digital signal processor(DSP) 1402 and a memory 1404. As shown, the UA 1301 may further includean antenna and front end unit 1406, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver1408, an analog baseband processing unit 1410, a microphone 1412, anearpiece speaker 1414, a headset port 1416, an input/output interface1418, a removable memory card 1420, a universal serial bus (USB) port1422, a short range wireless communication sub-system 1424, an alert1426, a keypad 1428, a liquid crystal display (LCD), which may include atouch sensitive surface 1430, an LCD controller 1432, a charge-coupleddevice (CCD) camera 1434, a camera controller 1436, and a globalpositioning system (GPS) sensor 1438. In an embodiment, the UA 1301 mayinclude another kind of display that does not provide a touch sensitivescreen. In an embodiment, the DSP 1402 may communicate directly with thememory 1404 without passing through the input/output interface 1418.

The DSP 1402 or some other form of controller or central processing unitoperates to control the various components of the UA 1301 in accordancewith embedded software or firmware stored in memory 1404 or stored inmemory contained within the DSP 1402 itself. In addition to the embeddedsoftware or firmware, the DSP 1402 may execute other applications storedin the memory 1404 or made available via information carrier media suchas portable data storage media like the removable memory card 1420 orvia wired or wireless network communications. The application softwaremay comprise a compiled set of machine-readable instructions thatconfigure the DSP 1402 to provide the desired functionality, or theapplication software may be high-level software instructions to beprocessed by an interpreter or compiler to indirectly configure the DSP1402.

The antenna and front end unit 1406 may be provided to convert betweenwireless signals and electrical signals, enabling the UA 1301 to sendand receive information from a cellular network or some other availablewireless communications network or from a peer UA 1301. In anembodiment, the antenna and front end unit 1406 may include multipleantennas to support beam forming and/or multiple input multiple output(MIMO) operations. As is known to those skilled in the art, MIMOoperations may provide spatial diversity which can be used to overcomedifficult channel conditions and/or increase channel throughput. Theantenna and front end unit 1406 may include antenna tuning and/orimpedance matching components, RF power amplifiers, and/or low noiseamplifiers.

The RF transceiver 1408 provides frequency shifting, converting receivedRF signals to baseband and converting baseband transmit signals to RF.In some descriptions a radio transceiver or RF transceiver may beunderstood to include other signal processing functionality such asmodulation/demodulation, coding/decoding, interleaving/deinterleaving,spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fourier transforming (IFFT)/fastFourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix appending/removal, and othersignal processing functions. For the purposes of clarity, thedescription here separates the description of this signal processingfrom the RF and/or radio stage and conceptually allocates that signalprocessing to the analog baseband processing unit 1410 and/or the DSP1402 or other central processing unit. In some embodiments, the RFTransceiver 1408, portions of the Antenna and Front End 1406, and theanalog base band processing unit 1410 may be combined in one or moreprocessing units and/or application specific integrated circuits(ASICs).

The analog baseband processing unit 1410 may provide various analogprocessing of inputs and outputs, for example analog processing ofinputs from the microphone 1412 and the headset 1416 and outputs to theearpiece 1414 and the headset 1416. To that end, the analog basebandprocessing unit 1410 may have ports for connecting to the built-inmicrophone 1412 and the earpiece speaker 1414 that enable the UA 1301 tobe used as a cell phone. The analog baseband processing unit 1410 mayfurther include a port for connecting to a headset or other hands-freemicrophone and speaker configuration. The analog baseband processingunit 1410 may provide digital-to-analog conversion in one signaldirection and analog-to-digital conversion in the opposing signaldirection. In some embodiments, at least some of the functionality ofthe analog baseband processing unit 1410 may be provided by digitalprocessing components, for example by the DSP 1402 or by other centralprocessing units.

The DSP 1402 may perform modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding,interleaving/deinterleaving, spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fouriertransforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefixappending/removal, and other signal processing functions associated withwireless communications. In an embodiment, for example in a codedivision multiple access (CDMA) technology application, for atransmitter function the DSP 1402 may perform modulation, coding,interleaving, and spreading, and for a receiver function the DSP 1402may perform despreading, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inanother embodiment, for example in an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplex access (OFDMA) technology application, for the transmitterfunction the DSP 1402 may perform modulation, coding, interleaving,inverse fast Fourier transforming, and cyclic prefix appending, and fora receiver function the DSP 1402 may perform cyclic prefix removal, fastFourier transforming, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inother wireless technology applications, yet other signal processingfunctions and combinations of signal processing functions may beperformed by the DSP 1402.

The DSP 1402 may communicate with a wireless network via the analogbaseband processing unit 1410. In some embodiments, the communicationmay provide Internet connectivity, enabling a user to gain access tocontent on the Internet and to send and receive e-mail or text messages.The input/output interface 1418 interconnects the DSP 1402 and variousmemories and interfaces. The memory 1404 and the removable memory card1420 may provide software and data to configure the operation of the DSP1402. Among the interfaces may be the USB interface 1422 and the shortrange wireless communication sub-system 1424. The USB interface 1422 maybe used to charge the UA 1301 and may also enable the UA 1301 tofunction as a peripheral device to exchange information with a personalcomputer or other computer system. The short range wirelesscommunication sub-system 1424 may include an infrared port, a Bluetoothinterface, an IEEE 1102.11 compliant wireless interface, or any othershort range wireless communication sub-system, which may enable the UA1301 to communicate wirelessly with other nearby mobile devices and/orwireless base stations.

The input/output interface 1418 may further connect the DSP 1402 to thealert 1426 that, when triggered, causes the UA 1301 to provide a noticeto the user, for example, by ringing, playing a melody, or vibrating.The alert 1426 may serve as a mechanism for alerting the user to any ofvarious events such as an incoming call, a new text message, and anappointment reminder by silently vibrating, or by playing a specificpre-assigned melody for a particular caller.

The keypad 1428 couples to the DSP 1402 via the interface 1418 toprovide one mechanism for the user to make selections, enterinformation, and otherwise provide input to the UA 1301. The keyboard1428 may be a full or reduced alphanumeric keyboard such as QWERTY,Dvorak, AZERTY and sequential types, or a traditional numeric keypadwith alphabet letters associated with a telephone keypad. The input keysmay include a trackwheel, an exit or escape key, a trackball, and othernavigational or functional keys, which may be inwardly depressed toprovide further input function. Another input mechanism may be the LCD1430, which may include touch screen capability and also display textand/or graphics to the user. The LCD controller 1432 couples the DSP1402 to the LCD 1430.

The CCD camera 1434, if equipped, enables the UA 1301 to take digitalpictures. The DSP 1402 communicates with the CCD camera 1434 via thecamera controller 1436. In another embodiment, a camera operatingaccording to a technology other than Charge Coupled Device cameras maybe employed. The GPS sensor 1438 is coupled to the DSP 1402 to decodeglobal positioning system signals, thereby enabling the UA 1301 todetermine its position. Various other peripherals may also be includedto provide additional functions, e.g., radio and television reception.

FIG. 15 illustrates a software environment 1500 that may be implementedby the DSP 1402. The DSP 1402 executes operating system drivers 1504that provide a platform from which the rest of the software operates.The operating system drivers 1504 provide drivers for the UA hardwarewith standardized interfaces that are accessible to applicationsoftware. The operating system drivers 1504 include applicationmanagement services (AMS) 1506 that transfer control betweenapplications running on the UA 1301. Also shown in FIG. 15 are a webbrowser application 1508, a media player application 1510, and Javaapplets 1512. The web browser application 1508 configures the UA 1301 tooperate as a web browser, allowing a user to enter information intoforms and select links to retrieve and view web pages. The media playerapplication 1510 configures the UA 1301 to retrieve and play audio oraudiovisual media. The Java applets 1512 configure the UA 1301 toprovide games, utilities, and other functionality. A component 1514might provide functionality described herein.

The UA 1301, base station 1320 (including Node B and eNB type basestations), and other components described above might include aprocessing component that is capable of executing instructions relatedto the actions described above. FIG. 16 illustrates an example of asystem 1600 that includes a processing component 1610 suitable forimplementing one or more embodiments disclosed herein. In addition tothe processor 1610 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit(CPU or DSP), the system 1600 might include network connectivity devices1620, random access memory (RAM) 1630, read only memory (ROM) 1640,secondary storage 1650, and input/output (I/O) devices 1660. In somecases, some of these components may not be present or may be combined invarious combinations with one another or with other components notshown. These components might be located in a single physical entity orin more than one physical entity. Any actions described herein as beingtaken by the processor 1610 might be taken by the processor 1610 aloneor by the processor 1610 in conjunction with one or more componentsshown or not shown in the drawing.

The processor 1610 executes instructions, codes, computer programs, orscripts that it might access from the network connectivity devices 1620,RAM 1630, ROM 1640, or secondary storage 1650 (which might includevarious disk-based systems such as hard disk, floppy disk, or opticaldisk). While only one processor 1610 is shown, multiple processors maybe present. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as being executedby a processor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously,serially, or otherwise by one or multiple processors. The processor 1610may be implemented as one or more CPU chips.

The network connectivity devices 1620 may take the form of modems, modembanks, Ethernet devices, universal serial bus (USB) interface devices,serial interfaces, token ring devices, fiber distributed data interface(FDDI) devices, wireless local area network (WLAN) devices, radiotransceiver devices such as code division multiple access (CDMA)devices, global system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiverdevices, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX)devices, and/or other well-known devices for connecting to networks.These network connectivity devices 1620 may enable the processor 1610 tocommunicate with the Internet or one or more telecommunications networksor other networks from which the processor 1610 might receiveinformation or to which the processor 1610 might output information.

The network connectivity devices 1620 might also include one or moretransceiver components 1625 capable of transmitting and/or receivingdata wirelessly in the form of electromagnetic waves, such as radiofrequency signals or microwave frequency signals. Alternatively, thedata may propagate in or on the surface of electrical conductors, incoaxial cables, in waveguides, in optical media such as optical fiber,or in other media. The transceiver component 1625 might include separatereceiving and transmitting units or a single transceiver. Informationtransmitted or received by the transceiver 1625 may include data thathas been processed by the processor 1610 or instructions that are to beexecuted by processor 1610. Such information may be received from andoutputted to a network in the form, for example, of a computer databaseband signal or signal embodied in a carrier wave. The data may beordered according to different sequences as may be desirable for eitherprocessing or generating the data or transmitting or receiving the data.The baseband signal, the signal embedded in the carrier wave, or othertypes of signals currently used or hereafter developed may be referredto as the transmission medium and may be generated according to severalmethods well known to one skilled in the art.

The RAM 1630 might be used to store volatile data and perhaps to storeinstructions that are executed by the processor 1610. The ROM 1640 is anon-volatile memory device that typically has a smaller memory capacitythan the memory capacity of the secondary storage 1650. ROM 1640 mightbe used to store instructions and perhaps data that are read duringexecution of the instructions. Access to both RAM 1630 and ROM 1640 istypically faster than to secondary storage 1650. The secondary storage1650 is typically comprised of one or more disk drives or tape drivesand might be used for non-volatile storage of data or as an over-flowdata storage device if RAM 1630 is not large enough to hold all workingdata. Secondary storage 1650 may be used to store programs that areloaded into RAM 1630 when such programs are selected for execution.

The I/O devices 1660 may include liquid crystal displays (LCDs), touchscreen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track balls,voice recognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, printers, videomonitors, or other well-known input/output devices. Also, thetransceiver 1625 might be considered to be a component of the I/Odevices 1660 instead of or in addition to being a component of thenetwork connectivity devices 1620. Some or all of the I/O devices 1660may be substantially similar to various components depicted in thepreviously described drawing of the UA 1301, such as the display 1302and the input 1304.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spiritor scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is notto be limited to the details given herein. For example, the variouselements or components may be combined or integrated in another systemor certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.

As used herein, the terms “component,” “system” and the like areintended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, acombination of hardware and software, software, or software inexecution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being,a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable,a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way ofillustration, both an application running on a computer and the computercan be a component. One or more components may reside within a processand/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on onecomputer and/or distributed between two or more computers.

As used herein, the terms “user equipment” and “UE” can refer towireless devices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants(PDAs), handheld or laptop computers, and similar devices or other useragents (“UAs”) that have telecommunications capabilities. In someembodiments, a UE may refer to a mobile, wireless device. The term “UE”may also refer to devices that have similar capabilities but that arenot generally transportable, such as desktop computers, set-top boxes,or network nodes.

Furthermore, the disclosed subject matter may be implemented as asystem, method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standardprogramming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware,hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer or processorbased device to implement aspects detailed herein. The term “article ofmanufacture” (or alternatively, “computer program product”) as usedherein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computerreadable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storagedevices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips . . . ), opticaldisks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD) . . . ),smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick). Additionallyit should be appreciated that a carrier wave can be employed to carrycomputer-readable electronic data such as those used in transmitting andreceiving electronic mail or in accessing a network such as the Internetor a local area network (LAN). Of course, those skilled in the art willrecognize many modifications may be made to this configuration withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled orcommunicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicatingthrough some interface, device, or intermediate component, whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes,substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in theart and may be made without departing from the spirit and scopedisclosed herein. Although the present invention has been described indetail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer medium storing computer readable instructions executable by a processor to implement a method comprising: rearranging, by a user equipment, a plurality of control information bits; and encoding, by the user equipment, the rearranged control information bits, using a dual component encoding operation, wherein the dual component encoding operation comprises encoding a portion of the rearranged control information bits by using a first component encoder and encoding the remaining portion of the rearranged control information bits by using a second component encoder, wherein rearranging the control information bits comprises interleaving even indexed bits and odd indexed bits of the control information bits, and wherein the plurality of control information bits comprises a first plurality of bits associated with a first component carrier of a carrier aggregation, and a second plurality of bits associated with a second component carrier of a carrier aggregation.
 2. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 1, wherein rearranging the plurality of control information bits comprises rearranging the plurality of control information bits, based upon at least one grouping of the information bits.
 3. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 2, wherein the grouping of the information bits comprises a number of consecutive control information bits corresponding to a carrier.
 4. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 1, wherein the control information bits are indicative of an acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ).
 5. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 1, wherein the control information bits are indicative of channel quality information (CQI).
 6. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 1, wherein the dual component encoding operation comprises a Reed Muller encoding operation.
 7. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 1, wherein rearranging the plurality of control information bits comprises separating adjacent bits of the control information bits.
 8. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 1, wherein the dual component encoding operation comprises producing a first sequential code portion by using a first component encoder and producing a second sequential code portion by using a second component encoder.
 9. A base station configured to: decode, using a dual component decoding operation, a plurality of control information bits transmitted from a user equipment; and rearrange the decoded control information bits, wherein the control information bits are indicative of an acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ).
 10. The base station of claim 9, wherein the base station rearranges the decoded control information bits based upon at least one grouping of the information bits.
 11. The base station of claim 9, wherein the dual component decoding operation comprises a Reed Muller decoding operation.
 12. The base station of claim 9, wherein the dual component decoding operation comprises producing a first sequential decoded portion by using a first component decoder and producing a second sequential decoded portion by using a second component decoder.
 13. A non-transitory computer medium storing computer readable instructions executable by a processor to implement a method comprising: decoding, by a base station, a plurality of control information bits transmitted from a user equipment, using a dual component decoding operation; and rearranging, by the base station, the decoded control information bits, wherein the control information bits are indicative of an acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ).
 14. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 13, wherein rearranging the decoded control information bits comprises rearranging the decoded control information bits, based upon at least one grouping of the information bits.
 15. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 13, wherein the dual component decoding operation comprises a Reed Muller decoding operation.
 16. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 13, wherein the dual component decoding operation comprises producing a first sequential decoded portion by using a first component decoder and producing a second sequential decoded portion by using a second component decoder.
 17. A user equipment configured to: rearrange a plurality of control information bits; encode the rearranged control information bits, using a dual component encoding operation, wherein the dual component encoding operation comprises encoding a sequential portion of the rearranged control information bits by using a first component encoder and encoding the remaining portion of the rearranged control information bits by using a second component encoder, wherein the plurality of control information bits comprises a first plurality of bits associated with a first component carrier of a carrier aggregation, and a second plurality of bits associated with a second component carrier of a carrier aggregation, wherein the first and second plurality of bits comprise hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgements or negative acknowledgements (ACK/NACKs); and set the first plurality of bits to predetermined values if a transmission to the user equipment on the first component carrier was not detected.
 18. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the user equipment is configured to rearrange the plurality of control information bits by rearranging the plurality of control information bits, based upon at least one grouping of the information bits.
 19. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the control information bits are indicative of an acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ).
 20. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the dual component encoding operation comprises a Reed Muller based encoding operation.
 21. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the user equipment is configured to rearrange the plurality of control information bits by interleaving even indexed bits and odd indexed bits of the control information bits.
 22. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 1, wherein the first and second plurality of bits comprise hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgements or negative acknowledgements (ACK/NACKs), the method further comprising: setting the first plurality of bits to predetermined values if a transmission to the user equipment on the first component carrier was not detected; and setting the second plurality of bits based on the outcome of a cyclic redundancy check if a transmission to the user equipment on the second component carrier was detected.
 23. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 22, wherein the predetermined values, signal to the wireless communication network, a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for the first component carrier.
 24. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 1, wherein rearranging the plurality of control information bits comprises using a multi-dimensional interleaver or a block interleaver.
 25. The base station of claim 9, wherein the plurality of control information bits comprises a first plurality of bits associated with a first component carrier of a carrier aggregation, and a second plurality of bits associated with a second component carrier of a carrier aggregation.
 26. The base station of claim 25, wherein the first and second plurality of bits comprise hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgements or negative acknowledgements (ACK/NACKs).
 27. The base station of claim 25, wherein the first plurality of bits are set to predetermined values if a transmission to the user equipment on the first component carrier was not detected.
 28. The base station of claim 27, wherein the predetermined values, signal to the base station, a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for the first component carrier.
 29. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 13, wherein the plurality of control information bits comprises a first plurality of bits associated with a first component carrier of a carrier aggregation, and a second plurality of bits associated with a second component carrier of a carrier aggregation.
 30. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 29, wherein the first and second plurality of bits comprise hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgements or negative acknowledgements (ACK/NACKs).
 31. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 29, wherein the first plurality of bits are set to predetermined values if a transmission to the user equipment on the first component carrier was not detected.
 32. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 31, wherein the predetermined values, signal to the base station, a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for the first component carrier.
 33. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the control information bits are indicative of channel quality information (CQI).
 34. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the user equipment is configured to rearrange the plurality of control information bits by separating adjacent bits of the control information bits.
 35. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the user equipment is configured to rearrange the plurality of control information bits using a multi-dimensional interleaver.
 36. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the user equipment is configured to rearrange the plurality of control information bits using a block interleaver.
 37. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the grouping of the information bits comprises a number of consecutive control information bits corresponding to a carrier. 